EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Includes exclusive video of an interview with former Los Angeles Kings goaltender Kelly Hrudey on March 8, 2013.

Kelly Hrudey
Photo courtesy CBC

EL SEGUNDO, CA — The blue bandana that so many remember him by is long gone, but fans of the Los Angeles Kings who go back to the time that Wayne Gretzky wore the team’s black, white and silver jersey with the “chevron” logo will remember goaltender Kelly Hrudey, who will be honored by the team during pre-game ceremonies tonight, when they host the Calgary Flames (7:00 PM PST, Staples Center).

Hrudey, now 52, expressed some embarrassment about tonight’s festivities.

“[It’s] kind of embarrassing,” he said. “Nobody thinks that when you see all the great players that have played in this organization that somehow they’re going to choose you, that you’re going to be honored. So I’m very, very excited, very humbled. It’s hard to put into words.”

“Kings President/Business Operations Luc [Robitaille, who was a teammate of Hrudey’s with the Kings] told me last year in the playoffs that they’re going to do something for me this year, and I thought, ‘that’s really cool,’” he added. “Then, when he called me in the summer and told me the date, if there was not going to be a lockout, then it really started to sink in that this is really cool.”

Los Angeles Kings forwards (from left) Jeff Carter, Anze Kopitar and
Justin Williams spoke to the media following their 4-0 win in
Game 3 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Final on June 4, 2012,
at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Photo: Gann Matsuda/FrozenRoyalty.net

COMMENTARY: Coverage of the Los Angeles Kings’ meteoric rise and dominating run though the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs by out-of-town media has focused too much on some tired story angles. Also, for many local hockey fans, the Kings’ playoff run is very hard to believe.

LOS ANGELES — As the Los Angeles Kings have blown through one opponent after another in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, some of the stories that stand out, outside of those describing what has happened on the ice, have been a bit surprising, and sadly, some have been rather disappointing.

Trying to find a story in forwards Mike Richards and Jeff Carter being traded away by the Philadelphia Flyers, bringing up the ancient “Dry Island” story.

Fact is, that’s all really old news that no one cares about anymore. Even the fact that the trades happened this season is ancient history, in terms of why the Flyers traded them away. To be sure, although both are part of Flyers’ history—Richards was their captain—they are now destined to be remembered for their accomplishments with the Kings, not with the Flyers.

Out of town media still working off the tired premise that Los Angeles is not a hockey town.

This angle has been ongoing since the Kings made the playoffs this season. Come to think of it, this is a story angle that comes up every season, at some point, and will probably never die.

During the first round against the Vancouver Canucks, questions based on this were brought up by Vancouver media. To their credit, we did not hear much of these questions from St. Louis or Phoenix media during the second round or the conference finals, not that they would have any basis to ask such questions, with the teams they cover in the same boat as the Kings, in that regard.

But with the Kings in the Stanley Cup Final facing the New Jersey Devils, a team that has won three Stanley Cups, the assumption from so many (not just the media) is that there is no hockey tradition here, that Southern California hockey fans are not real fans, and could not possibly know anything about the game.

Even one of the questions during the press conference following the Kings 4-0 win in Game 3 on June 4, with Carter, Kopitar, and right wing Justin Williams, was based on those assumptions…

…and was quickly shot down by Williams.

“Ever since I’ve been here, this place has been sold out,” Williams said, with a rather perplexed, maybe even a mildly disgusted look on his face.

Only now are out-of-towners beginning to get a glimpse (yes, just a glimpse) of the truth…that the Los Angeles area is a hockey town, and has been for years and years. The difference is that, unlike most other National Hockey League cities, Kings fans in this metropolitan area are spread out miles and miles away from Staples Center, and in every direction, extending out over many suburban areas, and even across several counties. As such, the Kings will never have a large concentration of fans in close proximity to Staples Center to give it a constant “hockey town” feeling, as so many other teams have.

Former Kings left wing and current President, Business Operations Luc Robitaille also touched on that subject.

“There are [approximately] 16 million people [in the Los Angeles metropolitan area],” said Robitaille. “We know we have 2.5 million hockey fans. We know. We’ve done some research, so we’re very familiar with who likes hockey in Southern California.”

“We know they’re not all LA Kings fans, but we’re trying to reach them all,” added Robitaille. “We hope to grow it to 3 million, and that all of them will be Kings fans. But we know that we’re sharing with the [Anaheim] Ducks, and then, [on a broader scale], we’re sharing with everyone [Angels, Clippers, Dodgers, Lakers, UCLA, USC].”

“Then we have our core fans who have been following us, some of them since 1967, some since the Triple Crown Line. Those people are very, very passionate, and they’ve been following us for years. We didn’t make the playoffs for eight years, and we were still averaging 17,000 a game, which is amazing.”

Maybe after the Kings’ current run, and perhaps, winning the Stanley Cup this season, the hockey world will begin to figure out that Los Angeles really is a hockey town. Just don’t expect more than a relative handful to figure that out, as the stereotypes, evidenced by the never-ending questions raised by out-of-town media, are still way too strong.

Someone Pinch Me!

As the Kings have moved through the playoffs in such dominant fashion, losing just twice in 17 playoff games, they not only became the first NHL team to lead all four playoff series by a 3-0 margin, but they are also nearing something that has not been done since the Edmonton Oilers did it in 1988.

Should the Kings win tonight in Game 4 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Final (5:00 PM PDT, NBC Sports Network), not only will they sweep the series against the Devils, but they would also tie the 1988 Stanley Cup Champion Oilers for the best record in a playoff year.

What makes that even more remarkable is the fact that the Oilers were a dynasty team back then, having won the Stanley Cup in 1984, 1985, 1987, and 1988. They were absolutely loaded back then, with the likes of Glenn Anderson, Grant Fuhr, Jari Kurri, Kevin Lowe, Marty McSorley…and some guy named Wayne Gretzky, who would be traded, along with McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski, to the Kings on August 9, 1988 (Gretzky and McSorley would later be joined by Kurri; they helped lead the Kings to the Stanley Cup Final in 1993, where they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in five games).

Fast forward back to the present…in stark contrast to the 1988 Oilers, this year’s edition squeaked into the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference, making their dominating journey through the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs a surprise, but not for the reasons many might think.

As a hockey writer, I look at the game, and the Kings, objectively, taking my observations, comments from players, coaches, front office types, etc., analyzing them, and presenting them to all of you for your consumption.

But as a very wise, learned hockey writer, whom I admire greatly, wrote last season, “…to cover hockey, you have to love it,” and I would not be covering the Kings and the NHL if I didn’t love this game dearly.

That love for the game began in 1973, when I was a ten-year-old, living in Culver City, California, about six miles from what was then known as the “Fabulous Forum,” in Inglewood, where the Kings played from December 30, 1967 to October 20, 1999.

Coincidentally, back in those days, the Kings practiced in Culver City, at what is now known as the Culver Ice Arena, so, as a kid who played roller hockey in the neighborhood schoolyard every day (long before inline skates existed), it was easier for me than it was for most in the Los Angeles area to become a Kings fan. I even had former Kings defenseman Gary Sargent’s name written on my stick, which I still have, by the way.

For me, the only downside to being a Kings fan back then was that my parents, who had no idea what hockey was, were not about to purchase season tickets, so I had to be satisfied with my father taking me to an occasional game, maybe a couple of times a year, watch the 15 or so games that were televised on KHJ-TV 9 (now KCAL) here in the Los Angeles area, and then listen to Bob Miller and Dan Avey on the radio (KFI AM 640 and later, KRLA AM 1150) for the remainder of the games.

With the Kings in the 2012 Stanley Cup Final, and on the verge of winning the whole enchilada for the first time in their 45-year history, I am finding it difficult to keep the journalist and the hockey fan separate. Indeed, although I now look at the Kings and the NHL objectively, when it comes right down to it, I am still a hockey fan, just like everyone else who has devoted a lot of years to covering this great game as a journalist.

As stated earlier, I became a hockey fan and a Kings fan in 1973, some 39 years ago, the same year Miller, the long-time Voice of the Kings, became the Kings’ play-by-play announcer.

Over the course of those 39 seasons, the Kings have played some good hockey, but the vast majority has been either mediocre, or absolutely horrid. Kings fans who have been following the team for that long are conditioned to expect the worst, and as the Kings have moved through the playoffs this season, that conditioning has always been there, keeping these questions in the back of my mind, not to mention that of many other long-time Kings fans:

When is the bottom going to fall out? When is the inevitable collapse going to happen? When is disaster going to strike?

Even Miller acknowledged having similar thoughts as we spoke informally following Game 3 on June 4.

During the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Kings have torn through Vancouver, St. Louis, Phoenix, and now, New Jersey. Although their work is not yet done, and anything could still happen, the Kings are just one win away from winning their first Stanley Cup Championship.

After the way their season began, after qualifying for an invitation to the post-season party by the skins of their teeth, and after all the ways this team has found to disappoint and break the hearts of their fans throughout their history, what the Kings are doing now, and seem like they are about to do, maybe even tonight, is just all too surreal.

Is this a dream? Will reality smack me in the face with what the Kings have done so often in their history when I wake up?

For the Kings fan that still lives inside of me, the objective, professional journalist side of me says that the Devils are done, and even if they manage to win tonight, they have virtually no chance to win four straight games against a better team.

But even with the journalist within me telling me that, that surreal feeling of dread that has been conditioned into my psyche is something I cannot shake, no matter how hard I try.

Former Los Angeles Kings defenseman Marty McSorley met with the media on May 27, 2012, reminiscing about the
1993 Kings team that went to the Stanley Cup Finals,
and about his infamous illegal stick incident.
Photo: Gann Matsuda/FrozenRoyalty.net

EL SEGUNDO, CA — As most fans of the Los Angeles Kings know, one of the key factors in the Kings losing in the 1993 Stanley Cup Final to the Montreal Canadiens, was how they lost in Game 2 of the series.

Many point to the fact that Kings defenseman Marty McSorley was penalized in the waning minutes of the game for playing with an illegal stick—the curve of the blade exceeded that which was allowed by National Hockey League rules.

Leading 1-0 in the series, and 2-1 in Game 2, the Kings came unglued after McSorley went to the box. Their penalty-killers allowed Canadiens defenseman Eric Desjardins to walk in from right point, all the way down to the right face-off dot, completely unchecked. He then ripped a wrist shot past Kings netminder Kelly Hrudey at the 18:47 mark of the third period.

Desjardins scored again very early in the overtime period to give the Canadiens a 3-2 victory. Read more of this post

FROZEN ROYALTY EXCLUSIVE: Retired Los Angeles Kings head athletic trainer Pete Demers has seen more than most after a 41-year career in professional hockey that includes 37 years in the Los Angeles Kings’ organization, three with their minor league affiliate in Springfield, and 34 with the Kings. During the vast majority of those years, Demers had to suffer, along with everyone else, from a lot of mediocre, or worse, hockey. But everything changed, almost overnight, on August 9, 1988, when Wayne Gretzky arrived in Los Angeles to stay. Part six of a series.

LOS ANGELES — During his career with the Los Angeles Kings, retired head athletic trainer Pete Demers toiled long hours, starting early in the morning, and often working into the wee hours of the following morning.

Demers spent 34 years with the franchise, and for the vast majority of his career, the team had little success.

“Over the years, it has been frustrating and disheartening, whatever you want to call it,” said Demers. “Every guy who walks though [the dressing room] door puts his heart and soul into it, and then it doesn’t happen, whether we just didn’t have the talent, some stuff was missing, who knows.” Read more of this post

FROZEN ROYALTY EXCLUSIVE: In part five of an exclusive series based on an extensive interview with Los Angeles Kings head athletic trainer emeritus Pete Demers, Frozen Royalty takes a look at the most visible aspect of his job, caring for injured players…and trainers are definitely not immune from injury or illness, either…

LOS ANGELES — For athletic trainers in the National Hockey League, their most important job is to treat injured players and help them recover from their injuries, and in a 34-year career with the Los Angeles Kings, retired head athletic trainer Pete Demers has probably treated more injuries and illnesses than any of his colleagues, past or present, and not just those suffered by players.

To be sure, caring for injured players is the one aspect of the athletic trainer’s duties that is the most visible, and for Demers, it was no different. Like other trainers, he was most noticeable whenever he jumped over the boards and scurried out onto the ice to care for an injured player.

Even before he made it to the NHL, Demers already had experience dealing with serious injuries. Read more of this post

The logos of the Los Angeles Kings, the 29 other National Hockey League teams, and of the National Hockey League, are trademarks of their respective rightsholders and are used with permission of the National Hockey League.